A direct quotation at the beginning is the means of getting before the reader at once the important statement of a speech, report, interview, confession, etc. The following examples and those given in the discussion of reports of speeches and interviews in Chapter VI illustrate the effective use of the quotation.
(1)
"I took the shoes so that my little girl could go to school on Monday," was the defense that John Hoppiman offered in the Police Court this morning when charged with stealing a pair of shoes from the Palace Shoe Company's store on Eagle Street last night.
(2)
"No cigarettes sold to minors" is the sign conspicuously posted in all places where tobacco is sold, because the new ordinance recently passed by the board of aldermen went into effect today.
Beginnings to be Avoided. The rule that a news
story should never begin with the articles "a," "an,"
or "the," is neither supported by actual newspaper practice
nor based on entirely sound principles. Good emphasis
at the beginning is what such a rule strives to
secure and in so far as it calls attention to the desirability
of beginning the story with an important word in
place of an article, it is justified. Often, however, in
order to get the most significant element into the first
group of words it is absolutely necessary to use one of the
articles. Sometimes an article is unnecessary before the
noun at the beginning; for example: "Fire destroyed,"
etc., is more concise than, "A fire destroyed," etc.,
and, "Government ownership of telegraph lines was
urged," than, "The government ownership of telegraph
lines was urged."
